That Jonathan Feeling: Jonathan Richman Jives at La Sala Rossa

Inside the crowded, cozy room of La Sala Rossa, Jonathan Richman and Tommy Larkins played to a crowd as eclectic as the cobbled-together, endearingly DIY-ed decor of the venue. It was as though the wind had blown Bar Star Bar’s Lord of the Rings trivia attendees from right next door straight into the mezzanine; their polite concert etiquette far outdid any of the other shows I’ve been to recently. As I stumbled inside from the dreary and drizzly evening with my dad, filled with dumplings from Harbin Dumpling next door, I was met with a crowd filled with other apparent father-daughter duos and lifelong Richman-heads who'd probably seen him no less than 8-times, minimum. It was as if there was a quota at the door, a requirement in fine print on the ticket, and I only nearly scraped through on the press list. 

As the old-head crowd was milling about, Jonathan took to the stage with a rendition of an instrumental classic from his Modern Lovers days, “Egyptian Reggae,” lulling the crowd into their designated floor spots and kicking off the evening in a rather spaced-out fashion. Introducing tour mate, Tommy Larkins, on the drums – who was dressed in bedazzled Elton John-esque sunglasses and baby blue Sergeant Pepper-style army jacket, the spitting image of a cartoon rockstar drummer in his 70s – the set kicked off with a bang, literally. The New England-born artist serenaded the 514 crowd in French with an accent so shockingly fluent it could placate even the most hardcore Quebec separatist. Switching seamlessly from French to English to Italian sung through the thickest Boston twang, there seemed to be no stone the 70-something-year-old Richman left unturned. 

Richman’s stage presence only improved as he warmed to the crowd, taking breaks from singing into the mic to shake his hips, jive and groove with the crowd, showing off his guitar swinging manoeuvre and two-step on more than one occasion. Channeling the energy of that old man you might encounter on the 55 bus at 11 am on a Tuesday, who is singing to himself and in his own world, bothering no one except those without joy and whimsy in their hearts. 

The show really took flight when he played his hit song, and one of my personal favourites, “I was Dancing in a Lesbian Bar” from his debut solo album, I, Jonathan, which elicited shrieks of joy and instantaneous hip sways of excitement from crowd members, both young and old. In a beautiful moment which united both the off-duty Irish Studies Professors and the 20-something diehards (who likely grew up listening to his music on road trips, as did I) in attendance, Jonathan playfully switched the lyrics of his iconic song to incorporate lyrics from Chappell Roan’s hit “Pink Pony Club” as he played a three chorus encore, whipping out a cowbell which he gleefully banged along to the tune. 

Playing classics like, “You Can’t Talk to the Dude,” “That Summer Feeling” and “Pablo Picasso” from both his solo career and from Jonathan Richman and the Modern Lovers, Richman played with the joie de vivre and unironic dad-jokes only found in a 70-year-old rockstar. Over his decades-long career, Richman has tapped into an unparalleled niche carved for himself, somewhere between SNL musical skit and childhood sleep-away camp songs, which have the ability to bond the masses – exactly what is needed in such a turbulent time as now. Jonathan’s palpable charm endeared him to the eager audience of lifelong fans and casual listeners alike, leaving me with a new sense of childlike wonder, joy and unabashed glee.

As quickly as it had begun, the set was over in just over an hour, which for a tour put on by a 73-year-old guy, I can’t exactly complain about. As my dad and I left his eighth and my first Jonathan Richman live concert experience respectively, I can safely say I’m fully indoctrinated into the cult of Richman. I look forward to catching him the next time he’s in town if he makes it out again!